Energy stories

The long dry summer has impacted on Tasmania’s energy reserves, with storage levels down 11 per cent compared with the same time last year. Last month Tasmania imported three times more energy than it exported.

The potential for home battery systems to balance the supply of electricity, thereby replacing the reliance on large generators, is the focus of a research project valued at $1.8 million being led by the University of Tasmania (UTAS).

Tasmania is powering again – literally. The state’s electricity exports are back in the black, being once again a net electricity exporter, largely fuelled by full dams and a surge in solar power usage. This is a dramatic reversal in fortunes from 2016.

As we head into the summer months, Hydro Tasmania reports that the state’s lake storage is “very secure at 47.5 per cent full". Hydro’s Wholesale Energy Services Director, Gerard Flack, said: “This provides a very secure position with the drier months approaching…"

A new wind farm has been proposed near Stanley in the wake of a decision by State and Federal governments to jointly fund a $20 million business case study into a second Bass Strait electricity inter-connector.

Flinders Island has switched on a $13.38 million wind and solar hub which will supply on average 60 per cent of the island's power. Renewable supply could rise to 100 per cent when the weather is right.

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